Text:  Acts 9: 36-42

³⁶ In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor. ³⁷ About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. ³⁸ Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹ Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

⁴⁰ Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive. ⁴² This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

This is a day when we think of our mothers.  For my wife, Karen, and myself, our mothers are gone.  The reason I bring that up is that we no longer have an opportunity to tell our mothers what we appreciated.  There are many things I would like to say to my mom if I had the chance. You were right mom about that.  Thank you for loving me when I hurt, even when I was a jerk.  I’m sorry mom for that time I was disrespectful.  Thank you for loving me enough to discipline me.  Thank you for getting me baptized and helping me to know Jesus.

But of course, Karen and I can’t say those things to our moms now.  So my encouragement to you is this.  Say those things to your mom.  Say them while you can.

Today we turn our attention to a woman named Tabitha in the book of Acts.  Luke does not tell us if she was a mother or not.  When I read thi,s I picture her as a grandmother.  But of course, I could be wrong.  The one thing we can say is this:  Tabitha was:

A Woman who gave glory to her Risen Savior
I.  Her life pointed to Jesus
II.  Her death pointed to Jesus
III. Her risen life pointed to Jesus

³⁶ In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which, when translated, is Dorcas), who was always doing good and helping the poor.  Joppa was and is a seaport city not far from Jerusalem.  Joppa is the place where the prophet Jonah got on a ship to flee the Lord’s command to go and preach to the people of Nineveh.  We know how that turned out.

Well much later lived this woman named Tabitha.  She was a disciple, a believer in our risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ.  Look at how she is described. A lot better than Jonah.    Always doing good and helping the poor.

You know, from time to time we get the idea in the church that being a Christian is all about reading our Bibles, coming to worship, giving our offering and sharing the gospel with people who do not know Jesus.  It is about that.  But then we read about judgment day when we will stand before our risen Savior.  What will Jesus say to his people?  ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, …³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me… And of course Jesus explains what he meant.  Whatever you did for others you did for me.

What do we learn from Jesus words?  Not that people gain heaven by doing good things.  By grace we are saved through faith.  No here’s the point.  When saving faith is in our hearts, we will do good things.  And one of those good things is this.

Like Tabitha, we will help and care for people in need.

God makes that very clear in his Word.  He pushes back against that natural selfishness that lives inside our hearts.  Long ago Before God’s people entered the promised land he told them this:  ¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. (Dt15:11)  That’s what God expected of his Old Testament people then.  That’s what he expects of us, his New Testament people now.  That we continue to remember the poor.  (Gal 2: 10)  And not because we have to.  God’s people love, care, and help because Jesus loved, cared and helped us when we were worse than poor.  We were dead in our sins.  So he died for our sins.  And now we live because of him.  We will live and not really die.

That was Tabitha.  She knew and trusted what Jesus had done for her. It filled her heart with a love that showed itself in generosity to people in need.  And in this way her life pointed to Jesus. People knew that from being around her. Her life pointed them to Jesus.  But not just her life.  Her death also pointed to Jesus.

³⁷ About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. ³⁸ Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

³⁹ Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

When people close to us die, we often hear stories about them.  When my mother died, my godmother told me some things I never heard before.  Pretty special.  Well think of this woman.  When she died the widows of Joppa came to the apostle Peter who had just arrived.  Widows were often very poor.  There was no life insurance or social security to fall back on.  If there was no family to help you, you went without.

So imagine you were there with Peter as these widows came around.  They are wailing.  Tears are running down their faces.  And one by one they show you the clothes Tabitha made for them.  Not to enhance their wardrobe.  But for them to have something to wear against the cold.  And not made with a sewing machine.  But by hand, spending many hours.

What precious words were spoken about Tabitha.  What precious tears they shed over losing her.   So think about it.  Even her death pointed to Jesus. For one thing they could not help recall about this loving woman.   She was a disciple, a believer in Jesus, her Savior.

And here is where the story usually ends.  Friends, family gather.  A funeral, a gravesite, a time of grief.  We go back to our lives and deal with that empty chair.  But the Lord had something  special in mind for this day.  People must have starred in amazement and disbelief.  Tears of sorrow turned to joy.  And here again we see a woman who glorified her risen Savior.  God singled her out for a special purpose.  For here:  Her risen life pointed to Jesus.

⁴⁰ Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called the believers and the widows and presented her to them alive Why did the Lord raise Tabitha back to life?  Think about it.  Not for Tabitha’s sake.  She was in heaven.  We won’t ever want to leave there.  The Lord raised Tabitha for everyone else who would see this or hear about it.

Just imagine Peter bringing her before you.  She was dead.  Some of you had washed her body for burial.  But now she stands before you.  Now think about it.  This is Jesus’ apostle.  He had prayed in Jesus’ name.  And Tabitha was raised by the power of Jesus’ name. There’s no question.   Her risen life pointed to Jesus.  For what are we told? ⁴² This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.

What a powerful picture as I think of some of our moms this morning.   Tabitha reminds me that when Karen and I said goodbye to our moms, it was only for a time.  Like Tabitha, our moms trusted in a Savior who has conquered death.  They trusted in a Savior who will one day give us a happy reunion.

Until then, we live in a world where people suffer from hunger, poverty, disease and injustice.  As children of God bought by the blood of God’s own Son, it is our privilege to be there for them.  Young or old, rich or poor ourselves, we  get to glorify our Savior by helping others. So Paul wrote to the Galatians:   Therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of faith. Amen.

Text:  Acts 16:11-15

¹¹ From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. ¹² From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

When I was in my teens I took an interest in gardening.  You know, the usual things:  tomatoes, carrots, string beans.  My dad had a book that I remember going through.  I came to the section on grafting.  Grafting.  I never heard of that.  You could cut a branch from one kind of apple tree and graft it, attach it, to another.  By itself of course, that branch could do nothing.  But grafted to that new tree it would live and grow nice red apples, a whole new variety.

Today in our Gospel lesson our Lord Jesus uses the same kind of picture to teach us about our relationship with him.  I am the vine.  You are the branches, he says. What is Jesus teaching us?  Only by our faith connection to Him do we have life, life with God.  For when we are a branch on that vine, then his love, his forgiveness, his will, his strength flow into our hearts.  Then naturally something happens.  Like that branch laden with grapes, we bear fruit in our lives.

This short section from the book of Acts tells us about one such branch.  Her name was Lydia.  I am excited to tell you about her.   For here I hope you can see yourself.

One more Branch attached to the Vine
I.  Grafted in by the Holy Spirit
II.  Bearing fruit for the Lord

It seems the Lydia was a prosperous business woman.  Luke tells us she was dealer in purple cloth.  Back then, people prized cloth dyed purple.  It was very expensive to make and buy.  So it seems Lydia was doing better than most.  Yet she had what everyone has who is born into this world.  She had a God-shaped hole in her heart.  Of course, people try to fill that hole with all kinds of things, with pleasure, with fun, with power, success or just lots of stuff.  Some even invent their own gods.  But nothing really fits in that place where the one true God belongs.  Something inside of us tells us that when we’re wandering someplace without Him. After all, He made us for Himself.

And Lydia wasn’t a Jew.  She came from a place called Thyatira in what we now call Turkey.  So she grew up not knowing the Lord.  But somewhere along the way, she got to know some Jewish people.  She listened to them talk about their book, God’s Word, what we now call the Old Testament.  She  listened to them talk about their hope for a Messiah, a King and Savior from God.   Lydia became a worshipper of God.  In Phillipi, she would gather with the Jewish women out by the river.  But she still didn’t know his Son, her Savior. None of them did.

It’s amazing how God works.  Have you ever done this? Think back in your life to all the things God had to arrange, the people he had come your way in order to make you one more branch on the Vine. Think of Lydia and how she came to hear the gospel of Jesus.

The apostle Paul was across the Aegean sea in a place called Troas.  He had no intention of coming to Philippi or anyplace in Macedonia.  But Paul went to sleep one night and the Lord gave him a vision. In it he saw a Macedonian man begging him to come and help them.  With that, they got up the next morning and got ready to go to Macedonia up in northern Greece.  They must have had a following wind.  For they sailed straight for Samothrace an island and then on to Neaopolis.   But Paul didn’t stop there.  Like he often did, he went on to one of the main cities, a city named Philippi.

Normally when Paul came to a town, he and the others would go first to the Jewish synagogue.  But Philippi did not have enough Jews to have a synagogue.  Instead he learned that a group of Jewish women met by the river for worship and prayer.  So when the Sabbath came they went there to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ.   He would take them through the Old Testament and show them that Jesus was the One God had promised.  Jesus was the One who they were waiting for.  In so many words he told them. He is the Son of God who was crucified for your sins according to the Scriptures.  Then he rose from his grave to show us that we are justified through faith in Him.  God looks at us ‘just as if’ we never sinned.  And now through him, we have hope, the sure hope of life with God.

So Lydia listened and decided for Jesus.  Right?  Like a branch she picked herself up and attached herself to the Vine. Right?  Wrong.  Listen.  The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. (14b)  Did you hear that?  The Lord opened her heart.  The Lord brought her to faith.  It’s the same with you and me.  One more Branch attached to the Vine, grafted in by the Holy Spirit. And nothing has changed.  For how did the Spirit graft us in?  Just as it happened here long ago with Lydia.  The Sprit grafted us to Christ by the preaching of the gospel and the sacrament of Holy Baptism.

Think about it.  Jesus said:  Go and make disciples of all nations, But not just by teaching.  Also by baptizing.  For what is baptism?  It’s not just a ceremony.  It’s not just an opportunity to confess your faith in Jesus.  God’s Word tells us so much more.  It’s a washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.(Titus 3:5)   In baptism we are grafted into the Vine.  We are united with Jesus in his death for us and his life assuring resurrection.  We are born again as children of God.

And notice who was baptized here.  Not just Lydia but also the members of her household.  What’s that tell us? You know some churches will not baptize children.  They say, the Bible gives us no example, no command.  But aren’t children often members of a household?  Aren’t children included in all nations?  So when we baptize a little one, we celebrate one more branch attached to the Vine.  One more child brought to Christ, just like Lydia.

And what do we see in Lydia?  What do we see in this branch grafted into the vine?  She’s a branch that bears fruit for the Lord.

You see, there’s something that happens in the heart of every believer touched by God’s love in Christ.  Martin Luther spoke about it this way:  Faith is a living and active thing.  It cannot help but do good works. Jesus pictures it this way.  He will bear much fruit. We will bear much fruit.   Not because we have to but because we want to.  It’s the very nature of faith in Jesus.

Look at Lydia.  Luke writes:  ¹⁵ When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.”  She offered these missionaries a place to stay while they shared the gospel in Philippi.  It was like she was saying.  This is important.  Jesus is important.  Let me support you in this mission And if you know the apostle Paul from his letters, you know he didn’t want to be a burden on anyone.  But what are we told?    She persuaded us. Lydia was not about to take no for an answer.  She was bearing fruit for the Lord.

But that fruit doesn’t all look the same.  It comes from the same heart, a heart that wants to serve Jesus, but the fruit is different. It is like going to the produce department in the store.  What do you see?  All kinds.  One person steps up to help with Easter for kids.  Another asks to visit a shut-in.  One says I’ll do the church calendar.  Still another gives his time to do the church finances.  One takes charge of keeping the bulding and grounds in good repair while another asks the pastor.  Can you teach me to share my faith?  Or Can I call someone to encourage him?

But don’t get the wrong idea.  This fruit is not just about the church.  Think of Lydia again.  The fruit of her faith had to show itself in other places in her life.  For instance, by the way she did her business, by the way she treated her customers.  Think about that.  Isn’t it a blessing when you deal with a business person that doesn’t just tell you I am a Christian but acts like one.  He is honest and fair.  That too is fruit for the Lord.

Do you see where I’m going with this?  What is it you do?  Are you a parent, a friend, a neighbor, a worker?  Are you taking care of someone?  Are you a teacher or a student?  What is it you do?  If you are a branch on this life-giving Vine, it’s going to show.  It is showing.  Like Lydia, there is fruit for the Lord.  There is fruit because of the Lord.

How can there not be?  He lived for me and died for me.  Because of Him, I am forgiven.  I am loved.  I have a peace this world can not give.  Because of Him every promise of God is my own.  And I have hope.  A hope that will not disappoint me.  A hope that will make me forget every sorrow in this life.  How then can I not leave this place wanting to serve and honor him.

So think about it.  It’s pretty good to be a branch attached to this Vine. Isn’t it?  Isn’t it?  Now go, tell someone.  Love someone. Help someone.  Bear some fruit. Amen.

Text:  1Peter 1:3-9

The other day we read these words in Bible class.  They seemed so meaningful I decided to preach on them today…then read

It happens this time each year.  Easter Sunday is special and filled with joy.  We sing the great hymns.  The church is adorned with the sight and the smell of lilies.  We join our many voices to praise our risen Savior.

We leave here on a high note, but life soon catches up with us and there’s a let down.  Fewer people.  The lilies don’t smell so fresh and new.  And for me, something far more serious.  Last Sunday afternoon I was called out as police chaplain to respond to a terrible, senseless tragedy in Petaluma.  I spent the day with witnesses, police officers and firemen who did a great job in a terrible time. Tomorrow I will meet with a man who witnessed the shooting.  He can’t sleep.  He keeps reliving the awful scene.  So for me after Easter, life has brought some tough experiences.

But one very important thing hasn’t changed.  Jesus is still risen. And here’s the beauty of it.  It’s a light shines that through every darkness.  So we still have reason to rejoice.  And here the apostle Peter helps us keep that joy alive.  That’s what we want to see today:

THE JOY WE HAVE IN OUR LIVING SAVIOR
i.  The joy of a living hope
II.  Joy in the midst of tough times
III.  Joy in receiving the goal of our faith.

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, Those words are so joyous I am tempted to say Amen right now and sit down.  But let’s take some nice sips of this word and savor what God says.

In his great mercy, Peter writes.  What’s mercy?  On whom do you have mercy?  What’s their condition?  You have mercy on someone in desperate need.  You have mercy on someone who deserves something worse.

That was you and me:  you were dead in your transgressions and sins,… Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath (Eph 2:1,3) But in his great mercy, God promised a Savior to rescue us from ourselves.  And in his great mercy he sent his own Son.  He sent his own Son to take our sin to the cross and suffer the punishment and death that we deserved.

And now in his great mercy, God our Father has given us a new birth into a living hope.  Think about it.  Children are sometimes born badly disfigured with a cleft palette.  In a poor country like Mexico, that can spell a very hard life.  These children face ridicule and rejection.  Often they can’t get a job and are condemned to abject poverty.  But there are surgeons who donate their time and skill to go down there and repair that deformity.  I have to think that when they do it must seem to the parents that their child was born again.

Well God has given us a new birth.  He has given us a new birth into a living hope. And what makes that hope real.  What makes it alive is this.  We have more than some dead and gone religious leader.  We have a living Savior.  In Him we have the joy of a living hope.

Peter calls our living hope  an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, You’ve seen the bumper sticker on the back of some big, expensive RV.  “We’re spending our kid’s inheritance. It gets a laugh, but it reminds us of something.  So many things in life disappoint when the time comes to enjoy them.  Not so, our living hope.  Not so, the place Jesus has gone to prepare for us in heaven.  It can’t shrink like our 401k.  It can’t be stolen by identity thieves or wrecked by vandals.  And it won’t be anything less than God has promised.  No sadness, no tears, no ugly evil on a Sunday afternoon, but joy, joy in the blessed presence of the Lord.

And to help us rejoice, Peter paints us a picture of certainty.  You see, twice he uses a word that means to stand guard and keep something secure.  Well first he says this, this inheritance is kept in heaven for you.  No one is going to mess with it there.  And more than that, the Lord is guarding you until that time.  Peter says it this way:  through your faith in Jesus, you are shielded by God’s power.  You are shielded from anyone or anything stealing you away from the Lord.  That is the promise of your living Savior.  What does he say?  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. Well that hand is powerful and alive.  For it is the hand of your living Savior, the Son of God.  He gives you this joy of a living hope.

Peter couldn’t help but notice the joy in these Christians.  He writes, in this you gladly rejoice.  And it wasn’t as if they were living their life in Disneyland.  In this letter, Peter speaks of the painful trials they are suffering for being Christians.  So here we remember something else about the joy we have in our living Savior.  It’s a joy in the midst of life’s trials.

God’s people are no strangers to suffering.  Jesus said, in this world, you will have trouble.   We are not immune to things like cancer or heart disease or depression.  And sometimes we suffer what many Christians do around the world.  Persecution for following Jesus.

But even if our pain or trouble should last a lifetime, this joy is ours.  It’s ours in our living Savior.  For what can we know about any trouble.  First, it lasts only for a time.  though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. That pain, that sadness may seem unending, but in our living Savior is only a little while.  When compared to our living hope it is only a little while.

Of course, when those trials come we might feel that God has forgotten us or cast us off.  The moment we feel that way we need to grab hold of this.  God has a good and loving purpose.  One purpose is this.  ⁷ These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

At one time, people used fire to prove the purity of gold.  They turned up the heat.  If it was gold it would remain.  If not, it would go up in smoke.

Suffering is like that fire.  It hurts but it proves our faith genuine.  In fact, when it forces us to turn to God’s promises and depend on him, our faith comes out even stronger with this final result.  When we see Jesus on the last day, we will praise him and honor him.  We may not understand now how he works, But then we will look back at our lives and praise God for what he did through our suffering

So look at the joy we have in our living Savior.  It’s ours even with tears in our eyes.  For we know God’s purpose and we know where it all leads. In fact, at this very moment it is ours.  The goal of our faith is now ours in our living Savior.  And this too is a joy.

Think of Jesus standing outside of Lazarus’ tomb.  He calls out to a man now dead for four days.  Come out!  And he does. He is alive. A blessed miracle!

The Holy Spirit has worked a miracle no less amazing in your heart.  Think of Thomas who saw the risen Jesus and believed.  We haven’t seen him.  We’ve not seen his face or heard his voice. So here is the miracle.  ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; You love him because of his dying love for you.  and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him You now trust he has lived and died for you.

And here’s the joy.  you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Notice something here.  It doesn’t say, you might receive or even you will receive.  It says you are receiving.  It’s like Jesus says elsewhere.  He who believes…has crossed over from death to life. For our living Savior has already done it.  He has already made that crown of life your own.  And now it’s only a matter of time before you wear it.  It’s only a matter of time before you live that life to the fullest.  There is joy in knowing that, isn’t there?

Marin Luther once said:  One can never speak of Easter without rising to his feet…Hearing its message and assurance is like Jacob hearing that his son Joseph was still alive after all those years.  It is almost incredible.  It appears too good to be true.  But it is true.  Wonderfully true and so enjoy what is yours in your living Savior.  Amen.

Text:  Mark 16: 1-8

I imagine there were a lot of Easter egg hunts these past few days.  Lot of excited little children running from place to place and right behind them their excited parents.  When all is said and done, the kids open their eggs to see what is inside.  Some kind of candy or prize.

But what if the egg is empty?  That’s not a happy thing.  What’s wrong here!

It the same with so many things.  An empty refrigerator.  An empty bank account.  It won’t be long before I have to go back east to empty my dad’s house now that he is gone.  Emptiness.

Yet today we celebrate a kind of emptiness.  An emptiness that makes a profound difference, an eternal difference.  An emptiness that might seem too good to be true.  But it is.  That’s why we say:

This is the Day the Lord has Made
And here The Holy Spirit invites us in this Word:
I.   Follow the women
II.  See the place.
III.  Go with the good news

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Who are these women we meet this morning?  All of them were disciples who had followed Jesus.  One Mary was the mother of the apostle James, known as James the less.  I wonder if have been short.  Salome was the mother of another James and John, also apostles.  Mary Magdalene was one that helped support Jesus and the disciples as they went from place to place.  Like us, they came from different towns.  They came from different situations in their lives.  But they all believed that Jesus was the Christ, their Savior.  They put their hope in him.

But think of what they had experienced these past few days.  Just the other night we sang:  Were you there? Were you there when they crucified my Lord. Some of them were there.  They were there when they nailed him to that cross.  They were there as people came by and taunted Him.  They were there when he cried out to his Father My God, my God why have you forsaken me.  They were there to see him grow weaker by the hour and finally die.  Were you there.  They were.

They were there when they took his lifeless body down.  This one who had called Lazarus back to life by the power of his Word.  He now lay dead.  They were there to follow the two men who carried his body to the tomb.  And there they watched these men try as best they could to get Jesus body ready for burial before the Sabbath.  Were you there?  They were there to see that there was more that should have been done for Jesus’ body, if there was time.

But there wasn’t time until Sunday morning.  So Saturday evening they went out and bought the supplies they needed.  And early Sunday morning they set out for Jesus’ grave.

What do you think they felt as they made their way?  They must have been numb and confused.  They believed and yet their faith was full of question marks.  They did not understand but they had learned the lesson of discipleship. When life is upside down the best thing to do is what is right in God’s eyes and trust God for the outcome.    For them that meant to honor Jesus with a proper burial.

But one thing they had forgotten with the rest.  One thing they did not expect even though Jesus had promised it.  They did not expect the grave to be empty even though Jesus had told them.  And even when they saw the stone rolled away it did not occur to them that this was the day the Lord had made. For he had risen.

Do we see ourselves in these women?  I do.  We know what God has told us.  I will help you.  I will give you rest.  I’ll never leave you. I forgive you.  I have gone to prepare a place for you.  We know what God has said.  But how often we let the troubles, the problems, the hurts confuse us.  So when life throws us a curve, we forget God’s promise like these women did.

Well here it was especially important that they remember.  So important that God sent an angel messenger to tell them what had really happened.  This is the day the Lord has made.  See the place.

Think about that place, the tomb where Jesus’ body had laid cold and still.  Humanly speaking, there Jesus’ body would stay.

A heavy stone as big as one of us was rolled into the entrance.  The governor had that stone secured with a seal that if broken was punishable by death and to make doubly sure that nothing changed, he posted a guard at Jesus’ tomb. Think about that place. Like our graves will be, it seemed that Jesus body would stay. And like the graves of loved ones we have visited, it was a place of weeping and  loss.  Think about that place where Jesus body had laid cold and still.

⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Now think about what that place had become?  A place that was no longer needed by Jesus.  For what did they see?  John tells us they saw Jesus’ burial clothes lying on the floor.  They saw that their  spices were no longer needed.  For those things were about death.

You see, this place had become something else.  Not a place of death, but a place of life, a place of victory, a place of hope.  For what did they not see when they looked — at least for now.  They did not see Jesus.  For he had risen.  He lives.  This is the day the Lord has made.

This is the day the Lord has made for you.  For what can we now know?  Buddha, Mohammed, Joseph Smith died and turned to dust.  And that’s where there words belong.  But Jesus Christ rose to life.  So this you can know.  Every word he spoke is true, God’s truth.  This you can know.  Your sins are forgiven.  For the very Son of God paid the price for you at the cross.  This you can know.  That Jesus is the resurrection and the life and if you believe in him you will live even though you die.  And when we have to say our good byes to those who have fallen asleep in Jesus, we can know this.  We will see them again in a much better place. Do you see why day is so important?  Yes, this is the day the Lord has made

But not just for you.  For others as well.  God so loved the world, not just you and me.  So take this to heart.  But don’t just take it for yourself.  Like that Easter dish on your table that is so good, it’s meant to be passed on.  This is the day the Lord has made.  Go with the good news.

The angel gave these women their assignment.  Go and tell his disciples. Christ is risen.  It’s kind of interesting that God chose women to be the first to carry this news.  In that time and place, the testimony of women and children was not to be trusted.  But that tells you something about who God wants to share this good news with others.  Not just a man in a robe or a clerical collar.  But everyone, everyone  who can say in his or her heart, I know that my redeemer lives.

So immediately, everything fell into place.  The women understood perfectly.  They had no doubts or fears.  So off they went ready to tell the world.  Right? Wrong.  ⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.  Yet they did what the angel called on them to do.  Go and tell his disciples.  And when the time came they would tell others as well.

Well that time has come for us.  This is the day the Lord has made.  Christ is risen.  This is the day the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad.  But don’t just keep it in.  Go and tell the good news.  Amen.

Text:  Romans 8:31-39

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In all these things, we are supremely victorious…

I am writing this sermon at my father’s bedside in room 22 at Petaluma Valley Hospital.  It’s Friday. Karen was just here all night.  She is very tired.  I don’t expect us to be here with dad much longer.  Let me explain why.  My father lies before me barely breathing. His last breath seems right around the corner.

My dad is dying before my eyes.  Yet here come these words that seem anything but true at a time like this: Probably crazy to many in this world.  In all these things, we are supremely victorious…

But this is exactly the kind of time when we need such words. When everything might seem lost, sad and hopeless.  This is the time when we need our Lord to come and lift our sunken spirits with his Word.

Otherwise, we could end up believing what was painted on a wall by an American soldier in Afghanistan.  His year in that boiling pot of fear, death and suffering  drove this soldier to write in his bitterness:.  God hates us all forever.

The devil wants us to believe that.  He wants to get us alone, isolate us from our brothers and sisters in Christ, and drive us to despair.  He wants to convince you that there is no way God could love you.  There is no way God could care for you.  There is no hope. Just look at your life.

This Word is like a Kevlar vest to guard our hearts when life gets tough.  It’s like a warm shower for our souls when we’ve been shivering in life’s coldness.  And that is this:

In Christ, God is for us.
I.  Look what he gave up for you
II.  Look what he says about you
III.  Look what he has attached to you

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this?  What Paul writes to us here harks back to what he just said.  A few weeks ago the vicar preached on these wonderful truths.  That from eternity God chose to make you the object of his love.  In your life, he acted on that choice by calling you to faith in Jesus. And someday he will bring you to the blessed goal, the hope he has promised us in Christ.

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all… You  learn a lot about a relationship by what someone is willing to give up for another.  If our moms or dads were any kind of parents they gave up a lot for us.  Their sacrifice said a lot about their love for you.

This morning we heard about Abraham and Isaac.  We met a father who loved his son, his only son.  Abraham also knew that God had promised that through this son would come a Savior for all nations and yes his Savior.  But now God asked him to give up his son, to sacrifice him.  We learn a lot about Abraham’s heart for the Lord when we see him make his way to Mt Moriah, gather the wood and raise his hand.

But what God did not permit Abraham to do, God did for you and me and all people.  Think about it. Last week we heard God the Father say on that Mount of Transfiguration.  This is my Son, whom I love. But follow Jesus and where does he go?  To a cross where the Father would give him up to suffer and die.  Why?  You know.  For our sin.  For our lack of love.  For the many times we have baptized our lives with guilt.  Yet who dies.  Who suffers?  Yes in Christ, God is for us.  Look what he gave up for you!

So when you find yourself in one of life’s pits and can’t seem to see over the top, answer Paul’s question:  how will he not also, along with [Christ], graciously give us all things? In other words,  look up dear Christian. Look up to Jesus’ cross. Look what he gave up for you.   If God was willing to do even that for you, if his grace is that rich,  do you think he’s going to hold back anything you really need?

Now Paul has us think of a courtroom.  What do you usually find there?  There is an accuser.  There  the one accused.  And there is someone who then decides guilt or innocence.

God’s word tells us:  it is appointed for a man once to die and then to face the judgment. So a courtroom awaits us. A verdict too.  And our Maker is the judge.  That prospect can frighten us.  But this Word assures us.  In Christ, God is for us.  Look what he says about you.

In God’s court, it would be very easy for someone to bring charges against us.  Think of what we owe to God and think of what we give him.

This past week as I’ve sat with my I dad, I couldn’t help but think.  Sooner or later I too am going to die. I too am going to stand before a God who knows all.  More than once my conscience pointed its accusing finger my way.  To things in my life of which I am ashamed.  To the grief I gave my Mom and Dad and thus to God,  the sins of my youth.  And the sins that leap up in my heart now just when I think I’m doing good.   Yes, in God’s court, it would be very easy for someone to bring charges against me – and you.

But listen again to these words:  ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  We have a conscience that shakes its finger in our face and accuses us of guilt. The devil accuses us before God.   But when all is said and done whose voice will be heard?  Whose voice will count?  God’s.  And what do we know?  In Christ, God is for us.  Look what he says about you! He has justified you.  He has declared you and me innocent.

How?  Why?  We know we are not innocent.  Far from it.  But Jesus was in every way.  He gave that life for you and paid the price you owed.  And then he was raised to assure you, it is finished.  It’s a done deal.  You are forgiven.

And here Paul puts this icing on the cake.   There is someone else in that courtroom by your side.  Jesus, your brother and God’s Son.  And what is he doing?  With all authority in heaven and earth, he speaks for you.  What a friend you have in Jesus.

Yet we know how things can seem.  There is a pastor in Iran under a death sentence.  This husband and father can be put to death at any time and for what?  For being born to a Muslim family and then believing in Christ.  How might that seem?

How might it seem to us when life takes a turn that hurts.  It might seem that God has cut you loose.  It might seem he couldn’t care less.  It sure could have seemed that way to Paul.  If anyone knew tough times, it was he.  He knew shipwreck and being without food.  He suffered beatings and jail time and finally death for preaching the gospel of Jesus.  If anyone had reason to feel abandoned by God it was the man who penned these words..  But here again he helps us to say:  In Christ, God is for us.  Look what God has attached to you.

You’ve seen it.  Meant to be a joke.  Sometimes a poor one.  There’s a sign attached to the back of someone’s shirt. Well God has attached something to you. It’s no joke. It’s a priceless treasure.  He attached it to you at your baptism when your sins were washed away.  His love.

But then those things come that can make us wonder.  The cancer, the broken heart, the depression. I don’t see anything that resembles God’s love there.  So we assume it’s gone.  But it’s not.  It’s not.  But don’t take my word for it, take God’s. It convinced Paul.  ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So here I sit in at my father’s bedside.  His time seems very near and I know my grief is not far behind.  Here is the man who with my mother helped me learn how to walk.  Thanks dad for that and so much more.

Well we need to learn how to walk as God’s people.  To walk by faith in God’s Word and not by what we see and feel.  I still am learning that.  How about you?  Let’s learn together.  To walk on knowing that in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For in Christ, God is for us.  Amen.